Tom McDonnell: Michael O'Sullivan has a very thoughtful piece over at the Sunday Business Post. He argues that a full restructuring of the Greek debt will occur later rather than sooner - and that it will happen when the ECB, rather than Athens, is ready for it.
He makes the point that a restructuring of Irish debt could be the beginning or catalyst to a process of renewal provided the restructuring encompasses deeper institutional change than has been contemplated so far, a radical strengthening of accountability and corporate governance in public and business life, and a meaningful recovery plan.
He also argues that "Ireland should insist that progressive growth, rather than regressive austerity, is the way for the eurozone to solve its economic problems" and that "we must show leadership by proposing serious structural changes to the eurozone financial system that take account of the lessons of Ireland’s economic collapse."
The article goes on to make a series of excellent reform suggestions including the idea of a ‘super’ social affairs ministry, that deals holistically with the symptoms and causes of our social problems.
Dr Tom McDonnell
Tom McDonnell is senior economist at the NERI and is responsible for among other things, NERI's analysis of the Republic of Ireland economy including risks, trends and forecasts. He specialises in economic growth theory, the economics of innovation, the Irish and European economies, and fiscal policy. He previously worked as an economist at TASC and before that was a lecturer in economics at NUI Galway and at DCU. He has also taught at Maynooth University.
Tom obtained his PhD in economics from NUI Galway.
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